Why “Unless You’ve Got a Reason”?

I thought I’d revive this blog to explain why I’d titled it thus. I initially started it after a conservation on Twitter with my siblings about the Festive 50s we used to compile. When I said I’d found all my old lists of these, one of them suggested I should put them on a blog, so that is what I did. Anyway, the phrase “Unless You’ve Got a Reason” is taken from a quote by Mark Hollis of the band Talk Talk. In an interview he gave at the time of the release of his one and only solo album in 1998, he remarked “Before you play two notes learn how to play one note – and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.” I like to think he said something profound about the nature of his art, although what he actually meant is not entirely clear. Still, the idea that you need a good reason to do something as simple as play one note suggests that creative acts need to be justified. And so it is with writing a blog. The Internet is full to way beyond bursting point with people sharing their thoughts, so I must consider whether it’s worth writing anything at all. Do I have a good reason for writing this blog?

The career of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis has got to be one of the oddest in the history of British pop music. Their journey from synth-based New Romantic outfit to weird post-rock act has now been fairly well documented. There’s a good brief account of it in the book Electric Eden by Rob Young. Since Mark Hollis released his solo album in 1998 there have been no further releases by him. I like to retain the romantic notion that Hollis’ silence is in itself an artistic statement. He hasn’t found a good reason to play any more notes. Fittingly, that album ends with nearly 2 minutes of complete silence.